Tag Archives: meal choices

New research by APCO for Share Our Strength* shows takes a look at family dinner cooking behaviors of low income Americans – and the results may be surprising to some. Earlier this week, my colleague Robin Deliso wrote about what marketers can learn from the study results. With such a rich study there are many great findings that can be discussed, so I thought this week I would look at it from a slightly different angle. A key nuance to the findings that I found particularly interesting is that families that have been directly affected by the recession are more likely to skip healthy purchases than those who have not been so directly touched by the economic downturn. From the qualitative component of the research APCO conducted we know that when families are forced to make that choice between more expensive, healthier products and less expensive, less healthy options it is not a choice that they feel good about. If 85% of low income parents say that eating healthy meals is important for their families, why would they cut corners on the food they are serving? The research didn’t answer this question directly, but it is possible to begin connecting the dots.